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Pronominalised Himalayan Languages Limbu - Rai

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Pronominalised Himalayan Languages Limbu - Rai PRONOMINALISED HIMALAYAN LANGUAGES LIMBU - RAI 202 203 LIMBU P.PERUMALSAMY 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 FAMILY AFFILIATION Grierson (1909) while classifying Tibeto Burman languages points out that a long series of dialects spoken in the central and lower Himalayas will be classed together under one group called Himalayan languages. The early experiences of Hodgson helped him to come to this conclusion. Grierson further divides the Himalayan languages into two groups namely simple or non-pronominalized and complex or pronominalized. Limbu, the language under description, is a member of eastern sub group of Himalayan languages; it is having complex pronominalizing features. It is one of the members of Tibeto Burman sub family. 1.2 LOCATION Limbu speakers are mainly concentrated in the West district of Sikkim state. They are also found in considerable number in the states such as Assam, West Bengal etc. In West Bengal, their presence is mainly felt in Darjeeling district. 1.3 SPEAKERS STRENGTH Language-Mother Tongue The speakers’ strength of Limbu in respect of language / mother tongue and bilingualism/trilingualism as per 2001 Census publication is given below. Language LIMBU TOTAL M F RURAL M F URBAN M F INDIA 37,265 19,599 17,666 36,303 19,021 17,282 962 578 384 Sikkim 34,292 18,025 16,267 33,693 17,703 15,990 599 322 277 Mother Tongue LIMBU TOTAL M F RURAL M F URBAN M F INDIA 28,127 14,714 13,413 27,358 14,243 13,115 769 471 298 Sikkim 25,412 13,282 12,130 24,969 13,045 11,924 443 237 206 204 1.4 BILINGUALISM As returned in 2001 Census, out of 34,292 Limbu speakers in Sikkim 24,863 are the bilinguals in the following languages in descending order. Sl.No Language of Total Male Female Language of Trilingualism Total Male Female Bilingualism among the Bilingualism 1 Nepali 21675 11413 10262 i.Hindi 2285 1447 838 ii.English 1166 717 449 iii.Bhotia 65 47 18 iv.Lepcha 64 35 29 v.Rai 8 2 6 vi.Sherpa 6 2 4 vii.Tamang 4 4 0 viii.Tibetan 2 1 1 ix.OTHERS@ 18 9 9 2 English 2104 1314 790 i.Hindi 948 591 357 ii.Nepali 820 513 307 iii.Bhotia 4 3 1 iv.Tibetan 3 3 0 v.OTHERS@ 6 5 1 3 Hindi 992 605 387 i.Nepali 388 240 148 ii.English 257 154 103 iii.Lepcha 3 1 2 iv.OTHERS@ 5 2 3 4 Lepcha 34 17 17 i.Nepali 30 14 16 5 Bhotia 21 16 5 i.Nepali 9 8 1 ii.Tibetan 1 0 1 iii.OTHERS@ 1 0 1 6 Sherpa 7 4 3 i.Nepali 6 3 3 7 Tamang 5 2 3 i.Nepali 5 2 3 8 Tibetan 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 9 Total of Others# 23 19 4 English 1 1 0 205 Accordingly 72.50% are bilinguals among the Limbu speakers of Sikkim. # Under the languages of Bilingualism the clubbed Total of Others comprise of Bilingual speakers strength in relevant languages below 100. But in the state of Sikkim the languages like Nepali, Bhutia, Limbu, Lepcha, Sherpa, Tibetan, Tamang and Rai are the most important languages. So, the bilingual strength in respect of these languages, even if it is below 100 speakers, have been taken separately and not clubbed under "Total of Others" @ Under the head Trilingualism the clubbed Others comprise of trilingual speakers strength in relevant languages below 100. But in the state of Sikkim the languages like Nepali,Bhutia,Limbu,Lepcha,Sherpa,Tibetan,Tamang and Rai are the most important languages. So, the trilingual strength in respect of these languages,even if it is below 100 speakers,have been taken separately and not clubbed under "Others" 1.5 SOCIOLINGUISTIC SETTING The Limbus call themselves as Yakthumba, which means differently as yak herders, fort defenders, hardworking persons etc. The Limbus are called as ‘Lum’ by Lepchas. Bhutias call them as ‘Tsong’. The original homeland of Limbus was supposed to be in the Tsang province of Tibet from where they had migrated to eastern Nepal prior to their advent to Sikkim. Limbus are divided into a number of exogamous patrilineal groups, such as Nambang, Thagim, and Libang etc. These groups are totemic or territorial. Community endogamy and group exogamy are the marriage rules. Land is the main resource for a Limbu livelihood. Land is owned at individual level. Though traditionally pasturalism and animal husbandry were their occupation presently they are engaged in terrace cultivation as well. Regarding religion the Limbus follow their own traditional belief. They do not have any deity or image of the God. Rather they worship the supreme spirit called ‘Yumasam’. Along with this religious tradition they celebrate Makara Sankranti, Durga Puja, Diwali etc. of Hindu religion. In Sikkim the Limbus are mainly concentrated in the west district. Scantily they found in the south, east and north districts. The Limbus have a rich oral tradition. The folk songs are sung by both men and women. [The source of the information furnished in this section is mainly from Singh, K.S., Sikkim, Vol.XXXIX, 1993 (Calcutta) and The Scheduled Tribes, 2001 (Oxford) Under People of India Series, Anthropological Survey of India] Limbu as a language is used in different domains of the society as mentioned below : Limbu Language in Home Domain In the home domain, it is the main language for communication with family members. It is also used to communicate with relatives. Limbu in intra and inter communication levels 206 In the intra communication level, it is used in between the community members outside their home domain. In the inter communication network, they interact in Nepali language with other community members. Similarly in market and other common places, they use Nepali language. In school, English is the medium of instruction. In offices and other common places Nepali is found in use since it is the superposed variety in the state of Sikkim. Limbu Language in Education The last king of Sikkim, Shri Palden Thondup Namgyal of Namgyal dynasty granted permission to introduce Limbu language as one of the languages to be taught in schools in 1968. But the preparation of primers was not completed till 1979. (Subba, 1999) By the end of 1979, text books upto Fifth standard were prepared with the active involvement of Shri B.B.Subba and Shri Chandra Mangyung who were appointed as text book writers by the Sikkim Government. In the year 1980, text books up to Eighth standard were prepared. In 1981, the language bill, granting Limbu language a status on par with Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha languages, was passed on the Sikkim Assembly and subsequently approved by the Governor. By 1981, Limbu was taught up to class X. In 1984, Central Board of Secondary Education granted permission to teach Limbu language up to class XI and XII. Limbu Language in Official and Literary Use Lot of activities have been taking place for the development of Limbu language by Government and Non-governmental organisations. It has its own orthography called Sirijangga, which is the indigenous name of Limbu script. In All India Radio, Limbu language programmes were introduced in 1985 with the time allotment of 15 minutes. The programme was mostly folk songs. In 1994-95, the time slot was increased to 30 minutes and the programmes were folk songs, talks and news etc. The Sikkim Government is publishing a weekly newspaper called ‘Sikkim Herald’ in all the recognised languages of Sikkim. Based on this, for the benefit of Limbu speakers, the newspaper is being published in Limbu script as well along with other language scripts. A yearly magazine ‘Emeyt nasung (Luck)’ is being published by a non- governmental organization called Limbu Literary Publication Association. Efforts of preparing dictionaries have also been noticed in this language. In 2003, Nepal’s ‘Nepal Rajkiya Praja-Pratishtan’ has brought out a trilingual dictionary (Limbu- 207 Nepali-English). The Sikkim Government has also brought out one dictionary containing 6000 words approximately entitled ‘Yakthung-Pene-Mikphula’ (Limbu-Nepali-English) in 1980. Novels, folk songs and short stories are also written in the Limbu language with the Limbu script. Among the writers, mentioned may be made of Mr.P.S.Subba and Mr.B.B.Subba and so on. 1.6 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Grierson (1909) in his Linguistic Survey of India report placed Limbu language in pronominalized eastern sub group of Himalayan languages based on the features commonly shared with other languages of the same group such as Dhimal, Thami, Yakha, Khambu, Bahing, Rai and Vayu. Grierson presented the skeleton grammar of Limbu language besides the history and the speakers strength. The pronominal prefixes and suffixes added with the verb have been discussed elaborately. However, the phonological and syntactical features are least discussed. Recently scholars have tried to describe the Limbu language in the light of modern linguistic principles (George Van Driem, 1987; Chowdhury Krishna, 1967). Studies on descriptive and sociolinguistic traits of Limbu language have been reported by various scholars (George Van Driem, Boyd Michaelovsky and Jeff Webster, 1999). 208 2.PHONOLOGY 2.1 PHONEMIC INVENTORY Limbu comprises of 28 phonemes out of which 5 are vowels and twenty-three are consonants. 2.1.1 SEGMENTAL PHONEMES Vowels Front Back High i u Mid e o Low a Consonants Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal vl. vd. vl. vd. vl. vd. vl. vd. vl. vd. Unaspirated p b t d c j k g Plosive Aspirated ph th ch kh Nasal m n M Trill r Fricative s z S’ h Lateral l Approximant w y 209 2.2 PHONEMIC DESCRIPTION AND DISTRIBUTION Vowels / i / The high front unrounded vowel i occurs in initial, medial and final positions.
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